Band news...

In the world of junior high, Nathan made the top band - wind ensemble!  He's actually switching to tenor sax next year, so it'll be a little different.  He's excited about his band though, and has several friends who made it also!  I know he's going to do great next year, and I'm so happy he has such a good group of band friends.  As we found out with Madison, it makes a huge difference in high school!

Madison's band gala is usually in May, but this year they had to do it a bit different.  They wanted everyone to get dressed up and submit pictures of themselves for the slideshow.  So, Madison invited Kaylie over on Monday to take pictures since we are in the same neighborhood!  I took the first one, but they were determined to take their own with Madison's handy music stand and self timer on her phone!

Then, today was award pickup!  Madison invited Ruthie (who now has purple hair!) to drive with her through the drive through at school.  They had fun together!

Madison lettered again this year (which means she got enough service hours plus the points needed through performances), and she got 1st division on her solo and ensemble!  It was a strange year, with zoom calls for sectionals and lessons every week.  But she did it, and ended her sophomore year great!  She made top band for her junior year - wind symphony!  She also made the leadership team as a media specialist.  Around mid-July, we will have to pretty much say goodbye to Madison because we will never see her.  We thought band was crazy before wind symphony and leadership!  I'm excited for her though, and very proud she's stepping outside of her comfort zone.  She's going to rock next year!

Quarantine grooming!

I forgot to post these pictures when we did this back in March, but it's another memory of our quarantine time!  Since our groomers were closed, we decided to try to groom Max ourselves.  He did so good, and it turned out pretty good!  We just couldn't get his face very well, but it helped until we were able to get him professionally groomed.  Fun times.

Our new favorite pastime...

We played ping pong one night, but ended up taking the topper off so we could play pool.  We all love it and have had a lot of fun with it!  SO happy the sellers were willing to let go of all this and sell to us!  I see a lot of fun family memories up here in our future, and it gives the kids something to do together.  They've had a blast!

Goodbye apartment...

Well, our home that we thought would be at least 5 months was short lived!  Goodbye apartment.  On one hand, we are all SO ready to get out of here.  But on the other hand, we had a lot of good memories in this apartment.  It was during our quarantine time, so for that alone, we have a lot of memories!  We had multiple daily walks around the complex with Max, many bike rides crossing over into our new home neighborhood, family tv and movie nights, playing Conduct Together (video game that caused a lot of laughs and frustration!), playing Werewolf at night in the dark, seeing Michael standing at the kitchen working, crawling on the floor during his video calls, having him home all the time, and just being close together.  That's one thing I'll miss in this house - being so close to each other.  There's something about a small house and a close family!  It wasn't all bad in this apartment....I'll have some great memories from this time.  And just to post some pictures so we'll remember this!

I just noticed Nathan's bed wasn't made.  OHWELL!

We have almost everything out!  Getting there...

Tongue in Cheek icecream!

During our errand run, we made an impromptu stop for ice cream!  I had a gift card to Tongue in Cheek, and we were right by it.  So, we stopped to officially celebrate the end of school!

It was a neat place.  They had these cool "sway" chairs that we loved, and it was super yummy!

Sleepover...

Nathan was invited over to Matias' for a sleepover last night, and he had a great time!  He's missed his friends a bunch!

We're homeowners again!

We closed today and have a house again!  Now for the fun part of moving....AGAIN.

Awards!

We watched Nathan's award assembly today on YouTube.  Kind of weird and something we've never done before!  He didn't think he was getting any awards because he's gotten them all the last three terms.  His name popped up though, for the online excellence award!  Only two kids were picked per teacher, and Mrs. Murray picked Nathan.  They had a special bond - Nathan would get on google meets every single day to check in and say hi to her!

Madison's award assembly was 2.5 hours (we didn't watch).  Both kids got all A's though.  All year long.  And both kids rocked the online learning.  They were both so responsible!  So proud of these two!

A very sweet text...

Last night, Nathan spent the night with Chance at his new house.  Around 10:30, Michael and I both received a text from him.  It about melted my heart and seriously made me teary-eyed.  Definitely something you want to hear from your children!  Feeling so blessed.

I know I don't say this often, but I really do take for granted what AMAZING parents y'all are.  There are too many ways to even say, but I thank you for everything you've done for me.  Daddy, you make us laugh every day, and you just are Mr. Awesome!  You do something whenever I want to, like playing a game, helping me find a Lego, and just whatever I'm doing at the moment you're always there.  You are the comedian of the family, and I love hanging around you!  Mommy, you do nothing.  I'm kidding!  (This kid likes to give me a hard time - ALL the time)  Mommy, you care for us every day with bringing us to school, getting us up, getting what we love (Panda included) and you always make sure we're happy and satisfied.  You do everything you possibly can to make sure we're good.  You let us have sleepovers, have friends over, and just whatever we want.  And to both of y'all, I couldn't ask for better parents.  I try to think of life without you, but it just wouldn't be the same.  You two are always there for me and you always will.  Y'all both have made a great impact on me, teaching me what to do on certain situations, and helping me out when I need it.  You have also done great in the Christian department.  You are the best parents EVER and I love y'all so much! ~Nathan

Birthday fun!

Madison was invited to a surprise birthday party for Ally last night, and she had a great time being with friends!  They had a scavenger hunt and had to get pictures with certain people/things.  One of them was their principal - Mr. Montgomery!  He's the best, by the way.  He was on national news because he traveled over 800 miles visiting over 600 seniors this year trying to encourage them!

It was a fun party, and I think Madison needed this!

Last day of school!

What a crazy end to the school year.  Who would've guessed that we would be finishing out 6th grade and 10th grade at home?!  The kids have been doing online school for the past two months, and they've done a great job.  Both maintained "A" averages in every subject and they were so responsible with their assignments/deadlines.  Both would've MUCH rather been at school instead of doing it online, but they made it!  No more zoom calls (at least for school), which they really didn't like doing!

First day of 6th grade and last day of 6th grade.  At our old house, and now at the apartment!

This is how Nathan feels about school being out for the summer!

First day of 10th grade and last day of 10th grade!

Like last year, Madison is a bit conflicted on whether she's happy or sad about school ending!

I'm trying really hard to NOT focus on the fact that Nathan is starting junior high and Madison only has two more years left in high school.  These years fly by so fast.  But, here we come summer!  Not sure what it'll look like with this pandemic, but for sure we're off to finish packing up and moving next week!  That should keep us busy enough for awhile.  Happy summer!

Mother's Day...

My weekend started off with beautiful flowers from the kids!  The joy of being in the middle of two moves is that you aren't sure where your vases are, so you take the redneck route and put them in a Dickey's cup!

Today we had online church and then I got my gifts.  My favorite of all was this sweet drawing by Madison!  I also got a new cup, a candle, lots of sweet notes and coupons!

Michael went over to spend time with Papa and help him through today, and we met up with Gaga for a picnic lunch at Bob Woodruff park.  This picture doesn't show how funny it was, but they had everything in their hands and wouldn't let us do/carry a thing!

It was a gorgeous day today and we enjoyed being outside!  This goofy kid and his sensitivity to light though.  This was the only usable picture of them!

We ended our day at Mi Cocina, with PERFECT patio weather.

I had a wonderful Mother's Day.  Madison and Nathan mean the world to me, and I'm so proud of them!  I'm one lucky mom.  God has blessed me so much with these two caring and funny kids!  It was also a great day celebrating Gaga and I'm thankful we were able to be with her!  You never know when that time will come when you won't have your mother.  There was a sadness throughout today not being able to celebrate Nana.  We miss her and will never forget the many good memories we have of her.  She may not be here, but she's definitely in our hearts.  Happy Mother's Day!